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Ontario urged to impose sky-high taxes on smokes

A new anti-tobacco strategy calls for sky-high increases in taxes, a forced reduction in tobacco retailers, a minimum purchase age of 21 and a ban on all smoking displays, including vaping paraphernalia.

The Smoke-Free Ontario Modernization report released Thursday says the province has made real progress in slowing down the rates of smoking, but it’s not enough.

“Almost one in five Ontarians still smokes,” the report says. “Our smoking rates have not declined significantly over the past few years.

“Most Ontarians who smoke want to quit, but the easy availability of inexpensive tobacco at just about every corner coupled with the lack of routine, ongoing support and treatment prevent them from overcoming this powerful addiction and quitting successfully,” it says.

The report was prepared by an expert committee to provide advice to Health Minister Eric Hoskins, who will issue a response in the coming weeks.

“Our government is committed to supporting people in quitting smoking and addressing the changing landscape of emerging smoking products and substances,” Hoskins said in a statement.

However, it seems unlikely that he would follow through on the proposal to raise the minimum purchase age for tobacco to 21 from the current 19, because his government only recently announced the minimum age to purchase marijuana will be 19.

Dave Bryans, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA), said in an e-mail that they’re reviewing the recommendations, but added corner store retailers have proven to be best at handling tobacco products.

“Smoke Free Ontario through FOI conducts over 20,000 underage shops a year where our pass rate as declared by government data is 95.7% demonstrating the most responsible retailers of age restricted products,” Bryans said.

The report says Ontario should also:

•Assign an adult rating of 18A for movies with tobacco imagery.

•Make all Ontario college and university campuses tobacco free.

•Allow landlords to require a smoke-free clause in a lease, and to evict any tenant who violates it.

•Raise taxes on all tobacco products until they’re the highest in Canada.

•Prohibit tobacco manufacturers or retailers from offering volume discounts or promotions such as free lighters.